Tag Archives: David

As we lay down for a bedtime story my little five-year old granddaughter listened as I told her about the anointing of David to be King of Israel, even though he was just the baby in the family and not even thought worthy of consideration. God looks at our hearts, I explained to her. People just look at our outsides, God sees everything within.

Israel (Photo credit: tamar_levine)

The human heart can only be judged by God alone. We sometimes think we know another person’s motives, but truly, God alone knows motive. Oh, for the ability to see people as God does – from the heart perspective! How thankful I am that God deals with me according to my heart – not my popularity, looks, financial situation, fame or any such external.

God the Father 05 (Photo credit: Waiting For The Word)

It is so easy to get caught up in the way others view us – and that can have an effect on the condition of our hearts. We ought often to remember that we play to a “one man audience,” and His opinion of us is the one that counts. God knows how prone we are to allow other people and situations and things to become more important to us than they should. The Old Testament speaks a lot of about the worship of idols which seem unrealistic and bizarre to us now, but the heart of people remain the same. We tend to put other things in the place in our heart reserved for God alone – and that always causes trouble. It starts spiritual heart disease, and changes our spiritual health. It solidifies our hearts when they were meant to be soft and tender. David was called a man after God’s own heart – because of the condition of his heart. He still did things wronged and committed some devastating sins. But when he repented he did it with his whole being and his heart condition returned to a gentle state before the Lord.

And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new Spirit within them. I will take away their stony stubborn heart and given them a tender responsive heart so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 11:19-20.

God the Father 01 (Photo credit: Waiting For The Word)

There are many things that can be instruments to harden our hearts – disappointments, hurts, betrayal, rejection, financial reversals, tragedy, and the list goes on. A human heart either becomes harder or softer one tiny decision at a time. Turning to God exactly at that moment when our hearts hurt allows positive change to take place. It’s a daily surrender. Being able to trust God even when life is hard restores our hearts to its tenderness, giving us supernatural peace to face our circumstances and genuine hope to help others along the way.

We wrestle with those questions from Jr. High days on forward. Our identity colors what we think about ourselves, how we choose to act and with what our hearts resonate.

We often think of a relationship when considering our identity. A parent of, a child of, a spouse of etc. Or we think in terms of our vocation, our occupation. I am a ………..butler, a banker, a candlestick maker. Or we may identify with our favorite pastime – a fan of a sports team, a “skater,” a “surfer,” a “blogger,” a quilter.”

When we identify ourselves in one of those areas our worlds can be quickly shaken if something goes a rye. If our pride and joy is being a parent and our kids make choices that break our hearts we wonder if we are good at anything at all. Or if we are very proud of our parents and they are our stability in life, then when one of them makes a decision that makes us ashamed, our world is rocked. If we are all about our business ventures and they go south, again, an identity crisis. If our self-concept has to do with our physical health and that changes then we re-evaluate who we are in this season of life.

The only rock solid identity is that of a child of God. No one can take that away. No life change can break the cement of that relationship made available through Jesus Christ. Hear the words of David, when he was in trouble:

I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what He has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.

Faith in the One who will never leave us or forsake us provides a strong foundation for our identity. From Mrs. Charles E. Cowman, author of Streams in the Desert:

Faith rests on the naked Word of God. When we take Him at His Word the heart is at peace.